


The Merling's Boon

by greygerbil



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: AU: Same-Sex Marriage Is Allowed in Westeros, M/M, Sexual Roleplay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-04
Updated: 2019-11-04
Packaged: 2020-12-24 00:17:55
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21090218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greygerbil/pseuds/greygerbil
Summary: Davos is perfectly satisfied with his new husband, but Stannis still wants to give him more.





	The Merling's Boon

**Author's Note:**

  * For [The_Plaid_Slytherin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Plaid_Slytherin/gifts).

Davos had never doubted that Stannis’ iron sense of duty could extend to any area of his life, but he would admit that some voices had left niggling thoughts in the back of his mind before their wedding. Salla foremost wasn’t able to believe that if Stannis truly wanted him, he could’ve kept himself out of his bed for the years they had known each other and the several months between their betrothal and the day that they were supposed to be wedded.

“Poor Davos, I fear you will sit like a luckless whore working her hands raw on a half-asleep drunk, trying to no avail to get the mast up. That, or there’s so little there that it will barely matter whether it is up or down,” he would mock.

But it wasn’t the size of Stannis that Davos worried about or whether he had any trouble standing to attention; he just wanted to know if his future husband thought him pleasing. Could he really be so strict with himself that there was never even as much as a lingering kiss, an unchaste touch? Of his affection Davos was certain, for there was no reason to marry him if Stannis felt none, but that did not necessarily have to be the same thing as attraction and Davos knew well he had only ever been plain. Stannis seemed so uncomfortable and stiff around talk of such matters when it sprang up between the knights or with Robert, too, that Davos wondered at times if he had any interest at all in them even divorced from him. He’d met a couple of people on his journeys who had told him that they never felt an urge to crawl into anyone’s bed.

The wedding night taught Davos how pointless it was to agonise without first looking for solid proof. Stannis was certainly clumsy and obviously inexperienced – Davos later learned that he was his first without great surprise, even though Stannis had been close to his twenty-sixth year when they had married. However, of his willingness no man could have a doubt.

Now that the dam was broken, Stannis proved to Davos that he must have waited with bated breath, too. True, he was too shy to impose on Davos in his chambers without invitation, but in his questions when they supped, Davos could usually hear him carefully feeling for permission to join him which he always granted gladly. After a fortnight, Davos finally got permission to sleep in Stannis’ chambers, claiming that he’d grown up with the expectation that he would be allowed to rest next to his spouse – which was no lie –, and from there on they were busy almost every night and enough mornings.

Davos spent their time together showing, teaching, silently archiving all that he found Stannis enjoyed. Though he needed to be coaxed to speak of it, his head had not been as empty of fantasies as one might have guessed and he confessed that actually being with someone had given him many more ideas. While he’d been timid about the process he was eager to get to it now and Davos found with pleasure that he was not like so many men who to prideful to let their lover take them, either. As Davos was the same, they had a lot to explore.

One evening, about two months into their marriage, Davos had gotten into bed before Stannis, who was still with his other retainers to give them new orders. The thick red curtains of the bed were drawn, so when Stannis returned, Davos only knew by listening to his heavy footsteps. Davos had never slept in a bed with curtains before coming to live with Stannis at the Red Keep and Dragonstone, but he had taken to them very easily, as he had always enjoyed the soft embrace of darkness.

Stannis’ hand moved the fabric quietly as he joined him and Davos watched him navigate his way onto the bed with movements that seemed unfitting for his tall, broad body, exceedingly careful not to shift the hay too much and disturb Davos. Davos hid a smile. He waited until Stannis had laid on his back to roll over in one swift movement and drape his arm across Stannis’ chest. His husband almost jumped and Davos chuckled against his shoulder.

“I thought you were asleep,” Stannis muttered crossly.

“Just dozing.”

Davos raised his head enough to place a kiss on Stannis’ mouth. It was supposed to be a quiet apology for his silliness, short and chaste, but his time of being allowed access to him so freely had still been way too short to not get caught up in the feeling of his lips on his. Stannis turned, his hand resting on Davos’ hip, slipping down over his backside before he caught himself and pulled back from the kiss.

“Are you tired?” he asked.

Davos smiled. “Not so much, my lord. What did you have in mind for us?”

Over the weeks, Davos had gotten a feel for the things that his husband liked and introduced more that he figured would be to his taste. By this point, Stannis had begun to know his own preferences and usually had an idea ready, even if he often would rather show Davos than subject himself to talking about it.

This time, however, he remained silent and still for a moment, simply looking at Davos.

“What do you want?” he asked, finally.

“Anything, my lord,” Davos said contently, running his hand up into Stannis’ short, black hair.

Since his eyes had gotten used to the darkness and Stannis had left a small gap open in the curtains to allow a thin sliver of moonlight to fall in from the window, Davos could see Stannis frown at him.

“No. I mean, what do _you_ want? You never tell me what you like.”

Laughing, Davos sat up a little. “I seem to remember telling you that I liked a lot of things …”

Since he had seen that Stannis was looking for some direction, he had never reined in his natural tendency to let his words fall from his mouth when passion took over, begging, pleading, and praising whenever the mood struck him.

Stannis cleared his throat. “There’s a difference in asking to go faster and… asking for something in particular. You have done all that I could have thought of and more.”

Only now Davos realised that Stannis was trying to pay him back, which was both unnecessary and very sweet. “I shall be quite happy as long as I have you,” he assured him.

This was not a lie. Davos had always been focused on people over acts. He adored Stannis’ stern but industrious approach to sex, the way in which he applied himself to it with as much gravity as he did to all tasks in his life, but also loved the moments when he managed to crack Stannis’ shell and allow him to unravel and let go of all thoughts for moments at a time. He marvelled over how conscious Stannis seemed of their difference in strength and size, not because he feared getting hurt, but because it betrayed the care Stannis had for him whenever he adjusted for fear of causing him the slightest bit of discomfort. Then there were the strong shape of his body, his eyes as blue as the sea on a cold day, his broad hands and long legs, the soft dark hair curling on his chest – all the things a fool in love could obsess over, as Davos happily did. 

“Still, there must be something.”

Davos wanted to deny him again, but stopped himself. Stannis was not wrong that of course he had some idle fantasies of his own. Why could he feel himself grow uneasy as he looked at Stannis now? It had to be that, when he was honest with himself, he had not been as free with Stannis as he had been with other lovers. Their attachment meant too much to risk making Stannis uncomfortable for some random harebrained thought.

But Stannis was asking and treating him like a virgin when they had slept together dozens of times was not what Stannis deserved, either. Davos propped himself up on his arm, groping around his head for anything that he remembered enjoying with his former lovers.

“I like to play pretend at times,” he said, eventually.

“What does that mean?”

“Well, as it goes on stage – pick a role.” Davos placed his hand on Stannis’ shoulder and smiled at him. “See, maybe you are a lord who got captured by my pirate friends, and I will smuggle you out for a certain price…” Stannis only looked at him, brows drawn, so Davos decided to switch angles. “Or you captured me and I want to strike a bargain to free myself.”

“These roles would ill fit us,” Stannis answered.

Davos felt his confidence teeter. Perhaps asking someone as sober as Stannis for what amounted to a game had been a mistake.

“They are just for fun. You could be a wildling chief and me a commander on top of the Wall, or we’re both lonely sailors on a merchant ship from Essos…” Since he got no reaction, his voice started trailing off. “Not tonight,” he added, more decisively, and slung his leg over Stannis’ hip to sit on his stomach. “I have another idea.”

Davos still had his pride, too, and the thoroughly puzzled look Stannis was giving him right now did nothing for it.

-

With a sigh, Davos stretched out on the bed. He should have fetched his tunic to cover himself, but it was a warm, humid night and as only Stannis would see him when he followed to the bedroom, he figured it made little difference. After all, they had also been in the bath together.

Since he still remembered falling asleep hungry on a bed of damp, soiled straw spread over a wet ground during his childhood, Davos would never claim that any part of his life as a knight and lord’s husband was too exhausting to be worth the reward. Still, somehow tourneys had been a lot more fun when he was still too poor and too lowly in rank to watch them anywhere but from a great distance, sitting on someone’s rooftop if he was lucky, only hearing of what happened from the shouts of the crowd if he wasn’t. While the riders had been magnificent to behold today, the merciless sun shining on layers of thick, adorned clothing for hours and hours had taken quite a bit out of him, and sitting wedged between Stannis and Cersei, embroiled in a contest of who could sink deeper into mute anger about the king’s impertinent behaviour, had had him on edge. This was not to say that King Robert, reeking of drink and much too loud even for someone who was allowed to do whatever he wished by virtue of his position, had not also made the situation more uncomfortable.

He turned on his side, running a hand through his long, wet hair. Maybe he should cut it soon; it hung well past his shoulders now and he didn’t spend all his time on the sea anymore, where the wind blew hard even in the summer. He’d felt like he was wearing a shawl today.

Davos opened his eyes when Stannis stepped into the room. To his surprise, he was still undressed. Even knowing that he would likely lose all his clothes again in bed with Davos, Stannis usually put on at least a shirt and loose linen trousers to be decent. Now, however, there was no shred of cloth on him. Davos smiled.

“I...” Stannis stopped himself. “I see you’re awake,” he continued, then, voice more serious than Davos had expected. It had only been a few minutes since he had left the bath.

“Yes?” he just said, voice raising in a question.

“I was worried that you were dead when I pulled you out of the sea,” Stannis answered, raising his chin, at once both slightly flustered and almost defiant.

Exhausted as he was, Davos needed a moment to understand what was happening. As he did, he felt a wave of affection for Stannis wash through him. He looked unsure and awkward, but he had obviously decided that he would try to fulfil Davos’ wish tonight.

“I think it was a close call,” he said, lifting his head off the pillow. “Who are you?”

“Just a fisherman,” Stannis murmured, sitting on the edge of the bed.

It was an interesting idea. Most people Davos had known who liked to play would indulge in some power fantasy, make themselves a king or general, a pirate captain, someone with sway – or the person under their thumb. However, Stannis was already the king’s brother and it hadn’t been a day to be proud of that fact. Davos could see how being a fisherman would seem like the right escape from reality.

“Did you get shipwrecked?” Stannis asked. “It’s strange, I could swear I saw a flicker of scales when I first pulled you out.”

Davos cocked his head. It was a fairy story that Stannis wanted to tell – he had to admit he wouldn’t have guessed it, but Stannis kept many thoughts close to his heart and even after years Davos still found new things about him to learn.

“No, no ships. I was always in the water...”

“A merling with legs?” Stannis asked, raising a brow.

Davos rolled onto his back. He, too, knew enough stories of the sea to explain such a trifling detail. Sleeping with merlings was a common enough boast among sailors, after all, and they had to find a way to explain how they had the proper parts for it.

“It’s a spell. I was chased down by hunters, but it was not enough to fool them. They attacked me. A wave must have carried me to the shore when I fell unconscious. You got their catch.”

“Then it’s a good thing I found you.”

Smiling, Davos sat up. His hands were still damp and cool from the bath, perfect for his role. He placed them on Stannis’ naked thigh.

“It was very kind of you to bring me back. My people hold with those who treat us well, you know.”

Stannis looked him up and down, but kept his hands to himself for now. A decent fisherman who tried not to take advantage, Davos thought with a smile. Those always got the best rewards.

“Well, I wouldn’t have left anybody in the water.”

Davos could actually see Stannis on a little fisher boat, wet from his rough boots up to the shoulders of his thick woollen tunic as he hauled in the nets, and later pulled a lifeless stranger out of the waves at the shore, carrying him home in his strong arms.

“But merlings pay their debts...” Smiling, Davos traced his jawline, the coarse, close-cropped beard. “What should I call you, fisherman?”

For a moment, Stannis remained silent before he gave him an expectant look. “Stannis,” he said.

It was not very imaginative, but Davos doubted that was the point. He had very rarely called Stannis by his name, never without the title. They held to those in noble families even after you were married and Davos had not wished to offend Stannis by being too casual. ‘My lord’ was almost a term of endearment to him now, but still, this permission made his heart beat a little faster.

“I like that name, Stannis,” Davos said, smiling, before he wrapped his arms around his neck and kissed him.

Stannis pulled him closer until Davos was halfway draped across his lap, stroking his wet hair. With the room dim around them, Davos could almost imagine a little hut by the beach, the sea lapping at sand and rocks outside. 

He moved his lips slowly to the strong column of Stannis’ neck to kiss it as he reached down with his hand. Stannis’ cock was already hard and Davos imagined himself as a wicked, happy merling with this honourable fisherman as he tapped it playfully with his fingertips. “Let me reward you.”

For a moment, Stannis allowed it, but he grasped his wrist before Davos could really get started.

“That’s not all I want from you, merling.”

“No?” Davos asked expectantly.

Stannis laid them down and Davos shivered as their bodies slid together. He hadn’t noticed that he had gotten so excited, but he always did, feeling the heat of Stannis’ body skin to skin.

“I can ask one thing of you in exchange for saving your life, if I remember. Should that be true, I wish you to stay with me for good.”

“Come and go with the waters, as my magic wanes and waxes?” Davos finished. Yes, he remembered the tales of such wives and husbands from the sea. They were always a little melancholy and had deeply impressed upon him when he was a little cabin boy. The merling spouses would wait at the cliffs until the moon was full enough to gift them the magic they neeeded to form legs to visit those they had wedded. Who knew that Stannis had listened close enough to the stories to be able to ensnare a merling in such a marriage, though, citing his right to a wish?

He adjusted how they laid together, slotting their legs into each other, taking both their cocks in hand. Stannis bent his neck to kiss his forehead.

“Yes. I will visit you with my boat when you swim,” Stannis murmured, stroking Davos, fingers firmly running over every part of his body he could reach.

Davos smiled, speeding up the movement of his hand. “I can catch the biggest fish for you and guide your boat in storms.”

“And I hide you from hunters.”

“I think I will be very happy with you, Stannis.”

Davos craned his neck up to kiss Stannis and as their tongues slid against each other, he could feel him spilling over his hand, breathing a low groan against his mouth. Stannis’ hand joined his own, then, grasping him hard, and Davos gave up on speaking for a moment to rut against the calloused palm, which may as well have become so from rope burn and weather rather than the steel grip of swords. When he came, he buried his face into the crook of Stannis’ neck.

They laid silently in a tangle of their sheets for a moment. Davos used one to clean them, without hurry, the touch like another caress.

“You know your seaman’s tales,” he said, looking up at Stannis.

“I never planned to become a captain, but my brother made me fight on ships and that’s what I took to. The nights get long, so you start listening to the sailors,” Stannis answered. “They are foolish stories, I suppose, but...”

“There is something to them when the moonlight is on the water,” Davos finished and smiled.

“Yes.”

Davos moved up so he could look Stannis in the eyes.

“Well, I must thank you, my lord. I was worried my suggestion had been unpleasant to you.”

Stannis shook his head, looking somewhat contrite. “I couldn’t think of a thing to do on the spot,” he admitted. “I wanted you to like it, since it’s the first thing you mentioned to me.”

“I meant what I said. I will always be pleased as long as it’s you, my lord. Truly.”

Stannis gave him a pale smile, fingers brushing over his arm. “Stannis,” he said, then. “If a merling can call his husband by his name, then you should, too, when we are alone together.”

Davos knew his smile was bright. It felt like a gift, though he had an inkling that Stannis might like his name out of Davos’ mouth as well.

“Yes, the merling’s husband... you proposed to me once more.”

Stannis looked a bit embarrassed. “It seemed right.”

Davos could have teased him for being so attached, but he agreed with him, in truth. “I think I would always be your husband, even if I were a merling from the depths and you a fisherman,” he said with a smile. “Our meeting was so unlikely as the people we are, we certainly would have found each other were we anyone else, too.”

This thought seemed to please Stannis and he drew Davos into his arms – the best place to be in all the possible worlds.


End file.
